Fruit Cups

Mengapa Fruit Cups? Karena bentuk nya lucu dan membuat anak2 mau makan, walaupun isi nya fruits. Untuk lebih keren, ujung kulit cups nya bisa dicelup di coklat. Jadi tambah yummy deh... Ide ini bisa untuk appetizer juga, isi nya bisa disesuaikan dengan daging dan cream cheese, ditabur dengan tomat rajang.

Bahan-bahan:

- 1 pak kulit wonton yang dibeli jadi
- minyak (misalnya olive oil) secukup nya
Bahan untuk isi buah:
- 1/2 sendok teh vanila essence
- 1 sendok teh jeruk lemon
- 2 sendok teh madu sesuai selera
- buah2 an: strawberry, kiwi, mangga sesuai selera


Cara membuat fruit cups:
- Potong2 strawberry, kiwi dan mangga kecil-kecil di dalam mangkuk. Aduk rata dengan vanila essence, jeruk lemon dan madu. Dingin kan di lemari es.
- Buat kulit cups dengan cara memasukkan satu persatu ke loyang muffin (yang bolong2) setelah disapu dengan minyak di kedua permukaan, lalu ditekan2 ke bawah setiap lobang jadi berbentuk seperti bunga atau mangkuk kecil2. Panggang di oven 350F/180C selama 5-6 menit (jangan sampai terlalu coklat).
- Untuk setiap cup isi dengan 1 sendok makan buah. Hidangkan segera.

Pad Thai Noodles

One of my family's favorite dishes, Pad Thai Noodles is best served while hot, and can be eaten with gado2 (Indonesian peanut sauce salad), or fried chicken. My recipe is the easiest since I don't have a lot of time to prepare...

This recipe is in Indonesian... Enjoy!

PAD THAI NOODLES

Bahan:
1 pak bakmi putih (rice noodle): disiram air mendidih, diam kan selama 15 menit
3 sendok makan kecap ikan
3 sendok makan air asam jawa (bisa pakai tamarind juice)
2 sendok makan air gula jawa yang dilarutkan (bisa pakai brown sugar)
1 sendok teh gula pasir
4 sendok makan minyak wijen
2 sendok makan saos tiram
garam dan lada sedikit
udang mentah secukup nya, boleh dikupas sesuai selera
1 kotak tahu dipotong kecil2 memanjang
3 siung bawang merah, dirajang
4 siung bawang putih, dirajang
1 sendok kecil cabai merah kering yang digerus (sesuai selera)
3 telor dikocok
taoge disiram air mendidih sebentar (sesuai selera)
daun bawang: dirajang kasar untuk ditabur

Bisa ditambah kalau suka:

kacang ditumbuk halus untuk ditabur di atas bakmi
2 sendok makan air jeruk lemon atau jeruk nipis
daun seledri untuk ditabur

Cara memasak:
1. Bawang merah dan putih disangrai di minyak wijen di api besar. Masukkan telor kocok, orak arik sebentar, masukkan udang dan tahu.
2. Setelah itu masuk kan bakmi yang sudah layu, lalu semua saos dan bumbu: kecap ikan, air asam jawa, air gula jawa, gula pasir, saos tiram, cabai gerus, garam dan lada. Kecilkan api.
3. Setelah semua diaduk rata, masukkan taoge dan diaduk sebentar lalu angkat.
4. Sebelum disuguhkan, tabur di atas nya dengan daun bawang. Kalau mau silahkan ditambah kacang, disiram air jeruk lemon, dan seledri.

The Art of Being Brave

I had a problem today. Well actually it's been building up since about 2 weeks ago - when I started a project late and due to Chinese New Year in China starting waaaay earlier than the holiday itself (read my posting Why I Hate Chinese New Year).

In summary, a customer orders a customized product, we scrambled to finish it on time, the product gets delivered to me and it turns out to be... not as expected. In fact, a measurement was off about 1/2 an inch and when you do packaging... oh hoho ho it's a no no. Wrong measurement in packaging is like a death star.

So who's fault was it? I would gladly say it's the customer's, since they rush us to finish this in super-hero speed and that they were late in giving us the artwork. But, is it also my factory's fault, for not letting me know in advance that it was GOING to be wrong. Then I can also point the finger at my project manager because he was the one who went to the factory to do inspection and he didn't say anything. Of course, why not drag my partner into this all together too because she was supposed to be the liaison between me and the factory.

At the end, though, the weight comes down to me, as the representative of the company. I have to face the customer and I have to explain to them what happened. And, most importantly, propose a solution. It sucks to be a sales person! But, what else can I do, it is my responsibility.

That is why I am so inspired by what President Obama did last week. After successfully delivering his first State of the Union address on Wednesday night, President Obama walked in to a gathering of House Republicans on Friday and took questions for more than an hour. MSNBC described it as going straight into "the lion's den."It was also nationally televised.

Talk about being brave! That was a crazy thing to do, one that most people will want to avoid. Who wants confrontation, let alone from people who oppose all your policies in the beginning? His message, let's work together, was not received well during the event, and fingers were pointing to find who's to blame on majority of issues. But President Obama, thank goodness for his calm, assuring manners, answered every question with dignity and clarity, and even lectured them on some issues that he feels were wrongly judged. I'm just so proud about how my President handled all those questions.

Now of course I am not implying that he did that because there was some blame he has to take - this is not in line with what I have to do. But I'm just saying that he was a brave person for doing that and somehow... I feel inspired. It's always not pleasant when you have to do something you don't want to do. But hey, it's only one customer, right. And if they don't like it, what are they going to do, bomb my house?

I think I can handle it. In fact, I'm sure I can.

Kids (oh wait, I meant Xander) Say the Darnest Things

So Xander is now 5 1/2. The kid that I used to swaddle, feed with a bottle and rock to sleep is now a curious kindergarten, asking millions of questions and commenting on everything he sees. And I mean, everything. I don't have answers for even half of his questions, but I try, of course. His comments though, could make me drop on the floor laughing. Really - kids his age are so innocent in their way of thinking and they say the obvious, which we adults are not aware of.

So over the years I have tried to savor all his comments, or as I call it, Xander's expressions. I know I will miss this - gosh he grows up so fast - but hey I will have another one coming soon so then I'll have another page for that kid!

Xander's Expressions

- Mommy, what about Kids Earth? (on using fabric bags as oppose to plastic bags to help the environment and "Mother Earth")
- Daddy are you texting? In the car? When you are driving?
- Yes you do Mommy, you have money in your bag - it's a card

- Mommy can you be my wife? (on why I call his Dad "Hubby")
- Mommy, you are driving Daddy nuts! But you also drive me Blueberry. or Banana.
- Mommy, can you ask your husband to give me his iPhone? (this is usually after he asks his Dad and got a no)

- I want to go to eat at a restaurant. It's more fun.
- Mommy can I see how you pee?
- How far is Los Angeles from our house? (after I explain that we live in the state of California)
- I don't want to die, I want to live forever
- Santa Clause will give to the poor people too, because besides the good list and the bad list, there is a sad list

- Why is there a heaven to go to when we die?
- I don't want to die after I become a grandpa, I want to be a daddy forever (so I don't die)
- I want boys to be pregnant with boys and girls to be pregnant with girls
- Mommy I love you 1000, and Daddy 100 (and his Dad says "Hey!")
- Mommy can you call God on the phone right now to find out (about something)?
- Mother Earth is real, and she lives here on Earth. Do you know she's under us?

- Mommy did you want a girl or a boy? I said a girl, but we got a boy and that's OK. He says, is it because Jesus is running out of girls in heaven?
- Mommy on Easter, did the Easter bunny come down from heaven with Easter eggs because of Jesus going to Heaven?
- and just last night, he asked his grandma: What year were you born? She answered, 1940. Xander says, Whoah, that was a long, long time ago. You are VERY old.

Why I hate Chinese New Year... in the context of work

The last few days have been one of my yearly nightmares. Yearly? you might ask. Well yes, it is the period that I dread so much. It is called... the Chinese New Year.

Don't get me wrong. It is not about the celebration, it is not about the Chinese culture, (well... a little), it has nothing about the holiday itself but the ethics of shipping from China. Yes, you can say 'huh?' now. But read on and you will understand.

So my business, in summary, gets stuff in China, bring it here to the US, and that of course involve shipping. You think it's already complicated to import things from China, well try this: the period before Chinese New Year, freight forwarders will scramble to get their customers' goods out of China before the "cut off dates". These dates will vary depending whether you ship LCL (Less Container Load), which is calculated in CBM (don't ask me what it is), and FCL (Full Container Load), which also has many options: 20 foot container, 40 foot container, and 40"HQ or High Cube, and 45"HQ.

Now, vessels or I should say ships, that's the actual commercial ships or merchants ships, are the ones who can say what and how many can be loaded in their vessels at one time. Those scoundrels will actually lessen the number of ships going out before Chinese New Year, so that they can increase the price knowing that the demand of shipping will be high, because less ships are leaving China! And not only that, factories will actually close down (and their workers leave work) one to two and a half weeks before the actual holiday!

You might be yawning right now at all of this explanation. Well, like I say this is why I hate Chinese New Year. Let me explain more... so you can really fall asleep now. My shipment, yes, my source of headache the last few days, supposed to be leaving February 2. Well guess what. The factory is actually down to only 3 workers working at their facility now, (the other 167 has left the building hopping trains to go home to their villages!!), so my projects are not going to be finished on time. So scratch that ship date. Further more, I learned that my shipment is actually less than FCL load so why the heck I want to pay 120% more for that, and so I needed to not only find a new ship date but also schedule for LCL! The good thing is, LCL has more chance of NOT being offloaded on the vessel. So making this shipment an LCL actually makes sense.

Unfortunately, the only date available is February 8, which is a week later than scheduled. I will be in so much trouble about 3 weeks from now, because I have to call 3 clients and explain why the shipment is late - they might scream at me for that - but hey, at least it will still be a February shipment. And, I will save about $800 on shipping charges.

In Indonesian, there is a saying "Masih untung... " which translates to, thank Goodness for .... Which is to say, always look from the bright side. It's a tough attitude to follow, but now that I have a blog to vent, I feel that it's possible.

My craving for Tahu Isi, and so I made it myself

It was before the holidays, when I had a craving for Tahu Isi. It's steamed tofu with meat inside. It was before dinner time and I couldn't really ask my husband to go to Chinatown to buy a couple of them, although I know he would. So, being a frugal mother-to-be I decided to make it myself. Good thing I had ground chicken in the fridge that day.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of ground chicken
2 eggs
1/2 cup of minced green onion
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp corn starch
1 tbs flour
1 tbs oyster sauce
pinch of salt and pepper
1 package of firm tofu

Method:
- Mix ground chicken with eggs, green onion, garlic, oyster sauce, salt and pepper until well blended. Add corn starch and flour.
- Cut tofu into 1 1/2 inch x 1 inch. Slit the top but not all the way.
- Add chicken mixture into the middle of the slit
- Steam in a steamer for about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

I like to eat this with kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), sambal botol (spicy sauce) and bawang goreng (fried onion). Yeah, it's an Indonesian thing.

1st Day of Blogging. Why do I even bother

OK so maybe it's hormonal, but being almost 8 months pregnant does make you want to vent a lot. Emotions going up and down. Every single thing that happens at the office either make you happy or sad. Or mad.

So, stupid of me for waiting this long... Why not just start a blog, said my brain who slowly woke up from its caffeine-deprived state. Good thing it's not something hard to do, or I will just break down and cry like a baby. After 5 minutes of logging in to google I finally realized how easy this is.

What am I going to write here? Mostly junk. Seriously. I think I'll also add some photos of my cooking, or attempts to cook, and some of my favorite recipes... Because who knows if I ever have the time to cook again after that baby pops out. I'll also add pics that matter only to me, because hey, who cares about what you want to read... It's all about me, me, me, right? I'd like to go down memory lane and reminisence.. no, reminicense... no, reminisce (good Lord I can't even spell now) about my childhood, because frankly, that was the period of my life that I wouldn't mind repeating over and over again.

So why the title of my blog is so... like an anime? (you know, Japanese sounding). Well it's because that is my nick name and how my Dad & loved ones called me, and, I still want a castle. No I'm not a princess-head type of girl but seriously I love castles, specifically those in England. Fine. I don't expect you to understand me anyway... hey, I can be cranky because 1. I'm hungry again, 2. why is the baby kicking so much and 3. you're not the one gaining tens of pounds carrying another human being.

So there... leave me alone to vent.